Banksy collection sold at auction

A trio of prints from street artist Banksy has fetched $138,000 at a lively auction in Auckland – the first time a collection of his work has gone under the hammer in New Zealand.

In front of an inquisitive crowd at the International Art Centre in Parnell, three limited edition prints were sold on behalf of a private Kiwi collector. The unnamed collector bought the pieces in 2005 while living in London; at the time Banksy was selling prints for around 60 pounds.

The most sought-after piece from 2005, Soup Can, sold for $52,000. Weston Super Mare and Golf Sale from 2003 sold for $41,000 and $45,000 respectively.

Golf Sale is among the first works Banksy publicly released. It is based on the world-famous photograph of a protestor standing in front of tanks in Tiananmen Square in 1989 after the Chinese military’s violent suppression of the Democracy Movement. Banksy has been reported to have said the print paid tribute to those who dared to stand up to authority.

The auction went ahead without controversy, unlike Sotheby’s 2018 sale of Banksy’s Girl with Balloon which temporarily had the art world in bits.

After selling for 1.05 million pounds ($2.1m), the painting suddenly slipped through a remotecontrolled shredder hidden in its frame by Banksy years earlier.

Banksy’s true identity has never been officially revealed despite wide speculation. The Bristol-born artist rose to fame with graffiti that appeared on buildings across the UK, often marked by deeply satirical undertones.

He continued to create art throughout the coronavirus pandemic, recently giving an English hospital a piece that honoured healthcare workers.

He also revealed a new work on Instagram which showed rats wreaking havoc on a bathroom, which he captioned: ‘‘My wife hates it when I work from home.’’